Wireless device location derived from base station signaling
View Patent ↗Embodiments disclosed herein provide systems and methods for deriving a wireless device location from base station signaling. In a particular embodiment, a method provides monitoring signaling transmitted by a base station serving a plurality of wireless communication devices. The method further provides identifying a wireless communication device of the plurality of wireless communication devices from the signaling and identifying an active set carried in the signaling that is associated with the wireless communication device. The method further provides determining a location of the wireless communication device based on the active set.
1. A method of operating a wireless communication system, comprising:
identifying active sets of wireless base stations generated by wireless communication devices;
determining locations of the wireless communication devices that correspond to the active sets and associating the active sets and the corresponding locations in a database;
receiving one of the active sets for an additional wireless communication device; and
processing the one of the active sets for the additional wireless communication device in the database to yield a corresponding location of the additional wireless communication device.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying a locations of the wireless base stations in the one of the active sets; and
graphically displaying the location of the additional wireless communication device and the locations of the wireless base stations on a map.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the one of the active sets for the additional wireless communication device comprises:
monitoring signaling wirelessly transferred from one of the wireless base stations.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the one of the active sets for the additional wireless communication device comprises:
monitoring signaling wirelessly transferred from the additional wireless communication device.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the active sets and determining the locations of the wireless communication devices comprises receiving data from applications executing on the wireless communication devices.
6. A wireless communication system, comprising:
a processor configured to identify active sets of wireless base stations generated by wireless communication devices;
the processing system configured to determine locations of the wireless communication devices that correspond to the active sets and associating the active sets and the corresponding locations in a database;
a wireless communication interface configured to receive one of the active sets for an additional wireless communication device; and
the processor configured to process the one of the active sets for the additional wireless communication device in the database to yield a corresponding location of the additional wireless communication device.
7. The wireless communication system of claim 6 , further comprising:
the processing system configured to identify locations of the wireless base stations in the one of the active sets; and
a display system configured to graphically display the location of the additional wireless communication device and the locations of the wireless base stations on a map.
8. The wireless communication system of claim 6 , wherein the wireless communication interface configured to receive one of the active sets for the additional wireless communication device comprises monitoring signaling wirelessly transferred from one of the wireless base stations.
9. The wireless communication system of claim 6 , wherein the wireless communication interface configured to receive one of the active sets for the additional wireless communication device comprises monitoring signaling wirelessly transferred from the additional wireless communication device.
10. The wireless communication system of claim 6 , wherein the active sets and the corresponding locations of the wireless communication devices are transferred from applications executing on the wireless communication devices.
11. The wireless communication system of claim 6 , wherein the wireless communication interface and the processing system are components of a wireless communication device.
12. A wireless communication system, comprising:
a processor; and
a non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform a method comprising
identifying active sets of wireless base stations generated by wireless communication devices;
determining locations of the wireless communication devices that correspond to the active sets and associating the active sets and the corresponding locations in a database;
receiving one of the active sets for an additional wireless communication device; and
processing the one of the active sets for the additional wireless communication device in the database to yield a corresponding location of the additional wireless communication device.